Keiichi felt no sense of time in Nifelheim. Each moment stretched into eternity yet felt impossibly compressed. Had it been days? Months? Years? Most of the time he felt an exhaustion he'd never experienced before. It was so total, so complete, that at times he could not bring himself to stand. Even opening his eyes was difficult.

At other times, he felt like his old self again, before the days of Goddesses and Demons, before Belldandy. Food appeared periodically, and he used the meals to try and count some semblance of time, but the memories slipped from him anyway.

The twin doors – doors that would not open for him – in the fifth wall of a square room opened dramatically, and Hild sauntered in, her body curvaceous and tempting.

"You are awake again! Good! And Hagal said you would be too weak for the Pot of Heresy, but I knew better!" She smiled and sat down beside him on the bed.

Keiichi rubbed his eyes and tried to find his strength again. "Why… am I so tired all the time? How long has it truly been?" Of course, Hild would probably lie, but what else was there to ask?

"Well," Hild explained, sliding close to him, her body up against his. "You know how sometimes you can cut the stem of a plant, put it in water, and it grows new roots?"

"Yeah, I guess," Keiichi responded. He tried to ignore the warmth of her body, the carnal desires she elicited in him.

"Well, that's what the Pot of Heresy does with your soul. A piece is snipped away, just enough to live on its own given fertile ground," she giggled at her own joke. "And it grows new roots. Becomes a new soul. But the process is tiring for the new soul, and traumatic for the old. Few mortals could survive it. That is why you have been so tired. I had to lend you some of my own power here and there. But I think you have taken root quite nicely here in Nifelheim now! You are much stronger than you were." She beamed with seeming-happiness.

"Is that what happened with Urd when Mara split her?" The mortal asked, feeling his strength returning in waves.

"No. Mara used a cheap copy. That only created a second physical body manifesting a different side of the same soul. Totally different. But enough of my daughter and ex-employees. I've come to talk about us." Her smile was seductive, but there was feeling behind it. He could sense that, somehow. There were differences in his mind, now. Even the five walls of the square room no longer bothered him as they once did. Nifelheim felt less foreign and more natural than it ever had.

Keiichi nodded. "I've been thinking about that. Even if I did as you asked, wouldn't the Gate of Judgement open up, test your 'love'? And since you have other motives, if you even loved me at all, wouldn't it then deny you?"

Hild grinned from ear to ear and laid back on the bed, her intoxicating scent wafting through the room. She propped up her face on one arm, posing sensuously for him. "You are a smart one. I heard from a little bird that you even saw through the Almighty's disguise. But the Gate of Judgement, it only comes if there is an interspecies relationship."

"But I'm human, a mortal. You're a Demon…"

"It's true," Hild said, "that you started that way. But your new roots, dear Keiichi, have grown here, in the soil of Nifelheim. You are more Demon than mortal, now. Enough that we need not worry about His pesky gate bothering us." Her robes parted, showing more of her, and Keiichi visibly gulped. Even Urd had never been so brazen.

"Don't fight it, Keiichi. You know, deep down, that you would have wished for me. If I had come through that day, and offered you a life of love, adventure, and pleasure, you would not have been able to deny me."

Keiichi knew she was right. His mind shifted to that day Belldandy had emerged from his mirror. If Hild has offered it to him, had told him that she would offer him love, companionship, and purpose, he would have accepted. Even if the price had been to come here, with her. Hild would have seduced him then, and without the light in his soul lit by Belldandy, he would have been powerless against her.

But he did wish for Belldandy, and Hild hadn't been there, the Demons had never cared about him until the Goddesses took interest in him, and he was stronger than that now.

"No, Hild. I can't do this. I can't betray her, and I won't, no matter what you say. Undo this. Make me whole again." His self-control was slipping. There was a part of himself now, he could feel it within, that could not wait to leap into her arms, to become the Consort of Hell. To be hers, forever. But another part remembered who he was, and he felt the resistance building within him.

For Belldandy…

Hild frowned, and for a moment her sensuous form became something else, something otherworldly. Her life-energy was more distinct now, and he suddenly realized he was seeing her in a way mortals could not, beyond the physical and into another part of reality not meant for human eyes. He had only ever experienced anything like that when he and Belldandy had shared the Kiss of Truth, and for a moment he had seen her as she really was.

The room had more than five walls.

Yet it had none.

It wasn't a room at all.

And Hild was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. And she was the darkest being he could conceive of. Somehow the contradiction did not matter. Her energy was everywhere, caressing him, tempting him. Even now he could see the tendrils of her spirit coursing through him, and he was no longer human himself. Though smaller and weaker, tendrils of his own soul were there, and darkened, half white and half something else. The light within himself was so weak, now, and it flickered.

Yet it did not die.

"Yes, you can feel it, can't you? You're changing. Seeing the world differently. But there is still time, Keiichi. Still time for you to give me what I desire, and for me to snip these new roots away, graft you back together again. But not much time. Soon your roots will be permanent. Give me what I want."

All pretense fell away, and he witnessed the power of the Daimakaicho as she truly was. How could any man resist her? How could any being resist her? The Almighty One himself had…

Reality shifted, and became more familiar again, but not quite as it had been before. He could feel its illusory nature, now. She stood, and her robe fell to the floor… her hips swayed as she walked toward him. Her voice was in his mind, seductive, tempting, and powerful beyond measure.

"If you had only one wish, Keiichi Morisato, what would it be?"

He gulped.

Lind burst through the portal into the mortal plane. The Demon guard could not escape. He snarled and tried to cast a spell, but her polearm was quicker. The sealing spell was instantaneous, and despite the Demon's fearsome resistance, he fell away, vanquished at last.

She fell to one knee, exhausted, barely conscious, having bested many Demons. But with the granting Goddesses forming a reserve strike force, the Guard had been pushed out of Heaven, and the control of the gates had been restored. The remaining Demons were in full retreat. Many had been sealed, giving Heaven great leverage in the next round of negotiations.

There were none left to challenge her. With Heaven secure, the demons could be pushed out of the mortal realm now. She wished Belldandy, Urd, and Skuld could help her now. Perhaps even that curious human, Keiichi, could help. She missed her friends, and with the rest of the Valkyries still engaged, she felt so alone.

Except…

A demonic presence registered around her, a powerful one, almost as great as Hild herself. This was one who had once ruled Hell, even if only for a short time. The mark it left on a Demon was unmistakable.

"Hagal." She said unnecessarily.

Her polearm vanished from her hands as if it had never been there. The mistress of illusions could do many things, Lind realized. She was able to counter the spell, of course, but in that moment of weakness, the demon was over her, seal in hand.

Lind felt the shame of defeat. She had done her best, she realized, and pushed back so many demons. The Almighty would not fault her for failing now, she knew. But that only made the feeling of shame worse, in her mind.

The seal began to take hold…

"SKULD BOMB!"

Explosions went off all around her, and the seal's energy failed. Lind wasted no time, shifting her polearm, now visible again, in her hands and forcing her spirit to fight one last time, despite the exhaustion that threatened to overtake her. Noble Scarlet was there, Cool Mint and Spearmint were there. And… this tiny little angel… MotorHead.

Hagal took a step back and laughed. Multiple demons rose beside her, survivors from the Guard.

"CAT ATTACK!"

The former Daimakaicho screamed as Velsper launched himself at her. Though he was no longer, strictly speaking, a cat, a remnant of his time there had given him and Blue Lance a certain feline nature, and the claws extended out before him.

Hagal barely managed to dodge the savage attack in time to escape serious injury. Soon, they were engaged in a furious battle.

Belldandy and Urd were there, too, concentrating on the remaining Guard demons. Thrymr appeared alongside Hrungnir, and the battle was joined.

Thrymr slammed her fists into the pavement beneath them, fracturing the very earth around them, fashioning a great boulder and lobbing it at the embattled goddesses. Lind sliced through it neatly with her weapon, swinging it toward the demon with all of her might.

The demon caught the mighty weapon with her fist and laughed.

"I cannot be beaten." Thrymr said, grinning. "My strength cannot be defeated."

Lind laughed. "I don't need to defeat your strength." The sealing spell had been bonded to her polearm itself, and soon great demon was wrapped up in it. Soon, she would be sealed, just another pawn for the negotiations.

Lind's victory was short-lived. Thrymr threw her fists against the walls of the sealing spell itself, and shattered them completely. But how?

"You were saying?" The demon grinned, pushing the polearm back. "I cannot be sealed. Not with my strength."

"Fight me." Keiichi said, MotorHead hovering beside him. "I defeated you once."

Thrymr smiled pleasantly and nodded. "Yes. You have come for a rematch? Good!"

Lind was incredulous. He beat this demon? And moreover, the demon acknowledges that she lost to him. How is this even possible? Her strength can beat even a Valkyrie seal!

All around them, demons and goddesses fought. Belldandy sealed one of the Guard into a teacup, which on any other day Lind would have considered hilarious and perhaps even worth the tiniest hint of a smile. But not now. Urd and World of Elegance fought two of the Guard at once, and Skuld found herself fighting a strange demon that, like the young goddess, appeared to have an obsession with machines.

Somehow, Lind realized, this battle between Keiichi and Thrymr was more important, though. Something about this human, if he could even be called that anymore now that he was bound to an angel, was going to decide the fight. Lind resolved to help him however she could. It was the least she could do for a friend.

Thrymr smiled, evidently pleased with the challenge. "I come!" The demon wound up his full strength, moving at impossible speed. Lind's awareness caught it all in that one millisecond. Fists, breaking the sound barrier, the sonic boom knocking every goddess and demon off their feet – everyone except for her and Keiichi. She leaned on her polearm, digging it into the ground for purchase. Keiichi, ahead of the wave, had not yet been impacted by it.

That's when she noticed the reflection spell, all of this happening in an accelerated time window, her mind slowed to contemplate the battle. That's right. Belldandy said that he had a talent for that spell. His only innate talent in magic was an ability to protect others. But can it take such punishment?

Thrymr was deflected from the edge of the field, moving around Keiichi, twisting in the air.

Her fist landing right in Hagal's midsection. The crack of bone was audible even over the rest of the battle. The former Daimakaicho doubled over in pain.

"What?" Thrymr said, incredulous, looking down at her fist and then quickly backing up from the moaning demon writhing on the ground. "My fists can break anything! How did you?"

Keiichi smiled. "Yes, they can break anything! So, I did not try to reflect your full strength, that would have killed me. Instead, I angled my barrier so that it never met your strength head on. I merely guided it around me and sent it somewhere else."

Hagal coughed up blood. "You… IDIOT!" It was unclear if she was talking to Thrymr or Keiichi… or, perhaps, even herself.

Keiichi looked down at the illusionist. "You are fortunate that the barrier absorbed some of her strength. Those fists really can break anything!"

Thrymr smiled genially. "Defeated again. Well you do keep surprising me!"

Keiichi fell to his knees in exhaustion. Casting the barrier had clearly drained him, Lind noticed. She was by his side in an instant, her polearm held out before her threateningly.

"You will not harm him!" She said.

But the Demon of strength merely nodded her head in agreement. "I would not! This human is a great challenge. He must live so we can play again. Besides, I must attend to miss Hagal."

The illusionist glared at Thrymr.

Around them, the battle died down. Most of the remaining Guard had been sealed. Thrymr picked up Hagal and helped the Demon to her feet. "We must be going now."

The portals opened quickly, and the Goddesses did not attempt to stop their retreat. Lind let go of her weapon and fell to the ground, asleep before she even hit the pavement.

She awoke inside the familiar temple, still feeling exhausted from the constant battles. Belldandy was on the phone, and she could just barely make out the Almighty's voice.

"But father, the Demons were pushed back, and can't we ask for this as part of the negotiations?"

"Belldandy, Hild's demands for Keiichi's… reintegration are things I cannot concede. It is within your power to remediate the situation. I know you can do it. Trust yourself. Trust your husband. You passed the judgement gate against all odds, against even my tampering. This is a trifle compared to that."

The phone clicked off.

"Lind, you're awake." Belldandy smiled, despite the inner turmoil Lind could feel radiating from her spirit. How does she do that?

"Yes. Thank you for looking after me. How is Keiichi?" The Valkyrie asked.

Belldandy's turmoil subsided a little. "He is doing well, given the circumstances. I am so proud of him, Lind. What he has become."

"But he is still not whole." Lind said.

"No," Belldandy replied, her eyes downcast. "But we will fix this. We always do!"

"Yes, I see…" Lind's thoughts took on an emotional tenor, something that was almost a kind of jealousy. I wish someone loved me like they love each other. The dark emotion passed, and she felt uplifted again.

"How can I help?" Lind asked.

"Well," Belldandy began, "we need to get some Demons to help us open a portal to Nifelheim, or at least to summon Hild so that we may negotiate with her. You sealed many, and…"

Lind nodded. "Yes, I will help."

Urd entered the room. "We should probably try to negotiate first, before trying to invade Hell itself."

Belldandy nodded, but still appeared worried. "Our father said that she was being very unreasonable, and…"

Urd embraced her sister. "It's okay. We'll get through this. I promise."

"NO!" The force of Keiichi's denial took everything he had and manifested beyond mere sound. His proto-demonic energy coursed around the illusionary room, and Hild felt the physical manifestation of his rejection. His eyes were closed, his head was turned. The former human could not even look at her, lest he succumb.

Hild grinned. It won't be long now.

"My, my, Keiichi, that was impressive!" Hild sat behind him, her skin pressed against his. Her hands massaged his back, peeling off his clothing as she went, as if it had never existed. His exhaustion was manifest, and he fell back into her arms.

She whispered in his ear. "But you can't do that again, can you?" She kissed his cheek.

"Try me," the defiant man said. Hild felt the emptiness of it, though. Keiichi was bluffing. She had played enough cosmic poker games to know it, to feel it. I have him now… one more push, and he is mine.

Her hands pressed against his, transferring a small piece of herself, along with something else.

"Every Demon should have a familiar," Hild whispered, her fingers tracing along his back. "She will show you the way."

As she could split off pieces of herself, her awareness, so could her familiar do the same. And so, a piece of that being flowed into her Keiichi, a gestalt for his familiar. They would be connected, now. His thoughts would be her thoughts.

But more importantly, her thoughts would be his.

In Nifelheim, time had little meaning. Seconds were centuries. And centuries were seconds. How long did it take for the familiar to burst out of Keiichi? In her accounting, it was almost instantaneous, but for the former mortal it must have felt like eternity.

Hild grinned as the being flew out of Keiichi. One wind was gray, mottled, and deformed. The other was the purest white, almost angelic. The familiar was curvaceous and beautiful, mischievous and yet honorable, and already Hild could see it whispering in Keiichi's mind. Her own familiar could hear its echoes…

Hi, master. Do you have a name for me?

The familiar rested her head in her hands and looked into Keiichi's eyes.

I'm waiting, master. You must name me." The familiar giggled. "Oh, this isn't so bad. See? I have a white wing too. I'm not all bad! Remember Urd's angel? She wasn't so bad, right? She lifted up her good wing as if to point how pure she was. The dark and mottled wing, of course, was partially hidden behind her back.

I don't have a name for you, Keiichi said in his mind. I'm supposed to have an angel. His name is MotorHead. Hild just… put you in me to get what she wants.

Yes, she did that, the familiar said. But I am here, and we are together, and I'd hope you just didn't call me 'my familiar' all the time. So boring!

It was then that Keiichi realized that his familiar was naked. At least a goddess's angel generally covered herself. Even when he had carried the familiar that would become Blue Lance, she had at least somewhat covered herself.

Yes, but I'm yours. All yours! The familiar said. Why should I hide myself from you? You know, even if we did what Hild wants, you could still have me whenever you wanted to. It doesn't count as cheating when it's between us…

Keiichi turned a deep shade of red. "No, none of that. If you have to do what I say," he said out loud, "then put on some clothes!"

But I'm no angel, she said, I am a familiar. Do you know the difference? An angel obeys her master in all things. But a familiar… we give our masters pleasure. And sometimes the most pleasurable thing for our masters is to disobey… her hands were next to Hild's, massaging him.

Keiichi laid back, his willpower fading. He looked up and Hild's eyes were penetrating. The familiar hovered above her, grinning.

Trust me, you will enjoy every minute of this, master. There is no better in Heaven, Earth, or Hell… many a demon would offer his very existence for the merest taste of what we are about to experience…

Hild's lips were full, and the Daimakaicho bent lower, their lips tantalizingly close.

And suddenly, Hild vanished in a tower of summoning energy.

Keiichi jerked upright in surprise, clarity coming to his thoughts again. The familiar looked around in shock.

What just happened? The demonic creature asked, seemingly as confused as he was.

The answer came to Keiichi almost immediately.

Belldandy. She fights for me.